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Australia's millionaire cricket stars will be given the VIP treatment when they fly home from the Maldives this weekend - before moving to luxury hotel quarantine together in Sydney.
A large contingent of players, including the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins and commentator Michael Slater, fled India earlier this month as Covid case numbers surged to out of control numbers.
The group have since been based in an isolated resort in the Maldives, waiting for the federal government's travel ban from India to end.
The ban will be lifted from this Saturday, May 15, paving the way for the group to return home after Cricket Australia negotiated a deal for the group to be excluded from the weekly cap of citizens allowed to fly into the country.
The charmed life of the pampered athletes is set to infuriate many, who once again will enjoy luxuries others can only dream about.
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More than 8000 'normal' Australian citizens are currently trapped in India.
The cricketers, who flew to India to play in the T20 Indian Premier League (IPL), all received huge playing salaries in addition to their already very healthy bank balances.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the cricketers will catch a boat to the Maldives capital Male, before boarding a flight to Australia via Kuala Lumpur.
Then the stars will quarantine at three designated hotels in Sydney's CBD from Sunday onwards.
But don't expect the players, coaches or commentators to fork out for their journey home personally - the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is paying for all the flights, as per the agreement for foreign players after the IPL was postponed.
Cricket Australia interim boss Nick Hockley said no special exemptions were expected - or asked for - from the government.
'Our priority is working with the Australian government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we are not taking (flight) spaces off anyone else,' he said.
'Any kind of quarantine arrangements would be over and above the cap.'
News of the pending preferential treatment of the cricket group angered many on social media.
One declared 'once again different rules (apply) for celebrities and sports stars. Absolutely pathetic and most people have had a gutful.'
Another asked how 'mere mortals would go about getting special treatment', with a third stating the cricket group 'should pay all associated costs in quarantine'.
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Earlier this month, a fired-up Slater took to Twitter and told Scott Morrison to get on his private jet and 'come and witness dead bodies on the street' over in India due to Covid currently engulfing the nation.
Slater, who was working as a TV commentator for the now suspended IPL, managed to escape to the Maldives. He was a fierce critic of the government's India travel ban on returning citizens.
All flights from India to Australia were banned until May 15, and the Prime Minister warned the stranded citizens on the subcontinent could face five years in prison and a $66,600 fine if they manage to find a way to fly in.
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'Amazing to smoke out the PM on a matter that is a human crisis. The panic, the fear of every Australian in India is real!! How about you take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies on the street!' the out of touch Slater wrote on social media.
'Above all my love and prayers to every Indian. You have been nothing but amazing to me every time I've been there. Please stay safe.'
Slater also declared - while safely in the Maldives - that 'if our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It's a disgrace!! Blood on your hands PM,' he fumed on Twitter.
'How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out quarantine system. I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect.'
India currently has more than 23 million Covid cases, with the death toll at least 240,000 people.
Reports also indicate the numbers could actually be significantly higher.
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